


tell me you love me

by demonicneonfishy



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Valentine's Day Fluff, sometimes you just gotta go abuse couples' discounts with your best friend, that's just how it is, who you're also in love with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29440875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicneonfishy/pseuds/demonicneonfishy
Summary: He'd been planning to spend this year as he always does: alone, taking advantage of the sale on chocolate and pretending not to be hopelessly in love with his best friend. It’s a time-honored tradition.-Or, the modern au in which Valentine's Day discounts are taken advantage of, there's a lot of pining, and Nicky is an idiot.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 4
Kudos: 127





	tell me you love me

Nicky’s never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. 

Not that he  _ hates  _ it, but he doesn’t love it either. He’s completely indifferent. It’s only ever been just a normal day for him.

Joe, his best friend for almost ten years now,  _ loves  _ it. He’s always been a romantic. Nicky teases him about it relentlessly.

He'd been planning to spend this year as he always does: alone, taking advantage of the sale on chocolate and pretending not to be hopelessly in love with his best friend. It’s a time-honored tradition.

And then Joe had called him. And his heart had skipped a beat, the way it always does when Joe’s ringtone plays ( _ Dancing Queen,  _ ABBA - that was a long story), and he’d picked up in seconds.

“Joe?” Nicky asks.

“Hey,” Joe responds. “You have any plans tonight?”

Nicky’s heart rate picks up - this is not happening, there’s no way this is happening - and it takes him a few moments to remember he’s supposed to answer. “No, why?”

“Well, since neither of us are doing anything, you wanna go shamelessly take advantage of all the inevitable couples’ discounts?”

Nicky freezes. There is no  _ way _ this is happening.

“As friends, I mean,” Joe says quickly. “And you don’t have to, I was just-”

He should say no. 

“That sounds fun,” Nicky says, and hopes Joe can’t hear his disappointment. “What time?”

“Uh… I’ll meet you at five? The park?”

“I’ll see you then,” he says, and hangs up. Then he curses and sets his phone down.

This is a very, very bad idea.

* * *

Definitely a bad idea, Nicky thinks as he enters the park. Joe smiles when he sees him, lighting up like the sun.

_ This is going to be the death of me _ .

“So, where first?” Nicky asks, trying to keep his voice light. 

Joe tilts his head in consideration, and even  _ that’s  _ adorable. This is worse than he thought.

“We could just walk around and see what looks interesting,” Joe suggests.

Nicky nods. “Sounds good.”

They walk in comfortable silence for a little while.

“No date this year?” Nicky asks after a while.

Joe shakes his head. “Broke up with Keane in October, remember?”

Nicky does remember. He’d been the first one Joe called, voice shaking as he explained what had happened. He’d driven over to Joe’s apartment immediately, and they’d spent the rest of the day watching terrible movies and making fun of them while eating far too much ice cream. 

“Right. Nobody new since then?”

Joe shrugs. “Nope. Besides, I’d rather be with you anyway.”

Nicky has absolutely no idea how to respond to that. His first instinct is to tell Joe that he can’t just  _ say  _ things like that, but then Joe would ask  _ why, _ and… well. 

Curse his fragile heart.

It only gets worse from there. Worse with every person who asks  _ oh, how long have you been together? _ ; with every new fake backstory Joe makes up for them, changing it every time; with every time Joe smiles at him, even brighter than the sun, and Nicky feels like he’s burning.

The problem is, even with the pain, Nicky vastly prefers this to sitting alone in his apartment, pining. Because spending time with Joe is fun.

They eat at a restaurant neither of them would usually go to if it wasn’t for the Valentine’s discount. By the time they leave, it’s dark, and slightly chilly as they walk. Joe, impulsively, reaches out to take Nicky’s hand, and that’s Nicky’s breaking point.

He stops walking. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?” Joe asks, his brow furrowing. “Did I-”

“No, no, you didn’t- it’s me, I-  _ shit _ .” 

“Nicky, look at me.”

Nicky could never say no to him.

“Tell me,” Joe says quietly. “Please. If I did something wrong, just tell me.”

Nicky takes a deep breath to try and steady himself. Better to rip the bandaid off, so to speak. 

“I’m in love with you,” he says. “I have been for years, and all this…” He waves his hand. “I know you don’t feel the same way, but-”

“ _ Nicky _ .” 

He looks up. 

Joe’s looking at him with a small smile, his eyes soft. “What makes you think I don’t feel the same?”

At that, Nicky loses all ability to think clearly. “Because you said you wanted to do this just as friends, and you’ve never said anything, and I-”

“I asked you to come with me as friends because I didn’t know how else to ask you. I was planning to tell you tonight anyway, but…”

Nicky blinks at him. This  _ cannot  _ be real. But it is.

“I’m an idiot,” he says. 

Joe laughs softly and reaches up, his fingertips brushing Nicky’s jaw. “You are. But I love you.”

“I love you too,” Nicky whispers.

“Can I kiss you?”

Nicky nods.

And Joe does. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is short and cheesy but i wanted to do something for valentine's day so, uh. have this!  
> -  
> i'm demonicneonfishy on tumblr too if you wanna come say hi!!


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